Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion (REACH) for Rural and Urban Fijians

Project Summary

(Photo: UNDP/Joeli Uluinayau)

The REACH Project aims to promote peace building, social cohesion and inclusiveness. Project conducts awareness raising of the social, economic and legal rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Fiji, provides access to the services associated with these rights, and also strengthens institutional capacity to deliver these services. A mobile service delivery approach is undertaken to reach communities throughout all of Fiji with the focus to reach the furthest behind first.

The REACH project aims to accomplish the following key results:

Increased awareness in urban, rural and maritime communities, of constitutional rights in the areas of social and economic wellbeing and justice, focusing on legal aid, through the provision of mobile teams.

Enhanced delivery of the services provided by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation and the Legal Aid Commission through the provision of mobile teams visiting urban, rural and maritime communities.

Strengthened capacity of the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation and the Legal Aid Commission through support to strategic planning, monitoring of results and support of coordination for effective and coordinated service delivery to urban, rural and maritime communities.

Policy making informed and based on evidence through research and analysis on the relevant areas related to the empowerment of women and girls, promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provision of access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions.

Sustainable Development Goals

The REACH Project supports the achievement of Goal 16 which is commitment to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels; and Goal 5 which is commitment to achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

Who finances it?

Government of Japan and UNDP with a total budget of US$2,685,000

News Centre

Communities in Fiji gain gender equality awareness and access services22 December 2017
Marguerite Gain returned to her mother’s village after surviving domestic violence and for the past ten years she has been earning her livelihood sewing uniforms for students, dresses and shirts for her fellow village women and men using an old manual sewing machine.

Regaining her strength through awareness of her rights and access to services27 November 2017Pranesh Lata was not aware of the social welfare services the Government provides to people in Fiji nor thought she would need it until her husband fell ill. Her husband was a carpenter and built the house where they and their two daughters are living comfortably in the Western part of Fiji. Sadly, one day her husband suffered a stroke while out at sea fishing for the family’s livelihood.

People enjoyed government services made accessible at remote locations and market places
7 August 2017
Losavati Sovivi found herself passionately engaged in the awareness raising talanoa (talk) and found exactly what she wanted to know to make her family happier. The details of the social pension scheme and the importance of child protection inspired her, especially as she has dedicated herself to caring for her family members, raising her ten children - with the youngest at 11 years old - and she has been looking after her 82 year-old mother in law.

Be Empowered, Be the Change
11 July 2017Empowering a woman empowers a nation – this was recognized by women who were present at the recent Fiji National Women’s Expo and had the opportunity to access social, economic and legal services provided by the Rights, Empowerment and Cohesion (REACH) for Rural and Urban Fijians Project.

Empowering Women to Empower More People
20 June 2017
A hundred women from Fiji’s Eastern Division were able to access social, economic and legal services and increase their awareness on the rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Fiji during a workshop recently organized in Suva.

Reaching the Furthest Behind First
13 March 2017
Women and men in eight rural communities in four districts of Fiji’s Western Division became more aware of their rights to legal, social and economic services provided by the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, and the Fiji Legal Aid Commission.

Upholding People’s Constitutional Right to Access Services
10 January 2017
A number of villages on Taveuni Island are located so far from the island’s town that accessing public services can be such a strain. Their capacity is already stretched as they recover from the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Winston that hit Fiji almost a year ago, while other settlements located further from shore are enduring dry weather.

Talking about Human Rights and Law in Interactive Ways
27 April 2016
Lawyers from the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission and Law Professors and students from the University of Fiji learned and practiced various interactive methods of raising awareness on human rights and legal issues at the community level with UNDP.

Government Services will Leave No One Behind
29 February 2016Seventy three officers from the Legal Aid Commission and the Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation have brushed up their skills of rights awareness raising, to facilitate improved service delivery to people in Fiji.

Better access to justice and services for people of Fiji
20 April 2015
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Governments of Fiji and of Japan today launched the Fiji REACH Project to support the Fijian Government’s push to improve service delivery to disadvantaged populations, particularly for women, youth, minorities and communities in rural and urban informal settlements.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Project ID

00083209

Status

Ongoing

Project Start Date

2015

Estimated End Date

2018

Geographic Coverage

Fiji

Focus Area

Effective Governance

Project Focal Point

Christine Fowler

Partners

The Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation and the Legal Aid Commission